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2004 is the 17th anniversary of Street Fighter, a mediocre arcade game that would spawn a world-changing sequel. Similarly, 2004 marks the 13th anniversary of that momentous descendant, Street Fighter II. Given those numbers, I have no idea why Capcom is touting 2004 as the 15th anniversary of anything "Street Fighter." I won't grumble, in any case, because Capcom's questionable arithmetic has resulted in the release of Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (SFAC), a celebratory compilation of two of the most fun and important games of the series' probably 17, arguably 13, but definitely not 15-year history.

Phenomenon

SFAC's rendition of Street Fighter II carries the new prefix of "Hyper," to tip you off that it's not just a straight arcade port. Instead, it's a special conglomeration that takes every iteration of each character, from all five SF2 games, and throws 'em in the ring together. That means you can, for example, pit the third version's Balrog against the fifth game's Balrog; they may look like the same character, but actually play quite differently. In this way, Hyper SF2 effectively offers 60 or so characters to tool around with. Not all are good; some early-version fighters are outclassed by their later incarnations, and vice-versa. Despite that, this is one very interesting sandbox Capcom has created.

DeeJay's about to have a ball.

Like other true classics, Street Fighter II remains eminently fun and playable, and is still able to get the competitive juices flowing like few other games. The core gameplay is nearly flawless; instead, most of the problems arise from the port itself, which outside of the many characters is somewhat barebones. For example, the newer characters have not been given simulated older incarnations. The single-player is marred because the CPU can only use characters from the most recent game, Super SF2 Turbo; similarly, it uses only the exasperatingly difficult Super Turbo AI, and only Super Turbo backgrounds are included. There are three sets of tunes, but you can't combine the best tracks from each into a custom soundtrack. These are relatively minor faults, but I'm still disappointed that Capcom didn't go all-out to please bonus-seekers and nostalgia mavens in this ultimate version of its timeless game.

Despite these quirks and oversights, Hyper Street Fighter II remains an excellent rendition of the fighter that started it all. It's really all about the gameplay, and there's next to nothing to complain about there.

The Late Bloomer

While you've probably played a version or three of SF2 at some point, there's a good chance you missed out on Street Fighter III. Capcom tried to go back to basics after the excesses of the Street Fighter Alpha series, but a weak character roster and a lack of balance caused III to bomb at arcades. Few noticed, then, when it spawned two excellent sequels. Street Fighter III: Third Strike is the second and final of these, and is a direct port from the arcade version. Ironically, Capcom's back-to-basics mantra has resulted in what may be the deepest 2D fighting engine yet created. There's more nuance and subtlety here than in just about any fighter without "Virtua" in its title.